The present invention relates to granular tofu which is produced from soybean milk or soybean protein paste prepared by the usual way from whole or defatted soybeans and contains 6% to 15% protein and the surface of which is coated with an oily film, thus effective to reduce water liberation as well as to improve preservability. This inventiion also relates to the process for producing the above product.
Tofu is one of traditional soybean protein foods in Japan. In recent years, the nutritive value of tofu as a healthy food has been highly appreciated for its vegetable protein, low caloric and cholesterol contents, and the demand of tofu has been increasing also in U.S.A. Tofu commercially available in U.S.A. is the same as that in Japan (silk-strained tofu--called "Kinugoshi" or cotton-strained tofu--called "Momen"), but the way of eating or cooking tofu is quite different; in U.S.A. tofu is seldom served alone, but applied as, for example, salad topping, spread on bread or canape, or as an alternative for scrambled egg. However, if a lump of tofu is divided by stirring to prepare spread or an alternative for scrambled egg, its high water content will readily cause water liberation and therefore, greater labor has been required so as to remove as much water as possible from the lump before use.
Moreover, it has been conventionally often experienced that tofu can rot in a relatively very short time, but recently it can be preserved for about 10 days in a refrigerator owing to the hygienically improved process of production and the improved packaging material. However, U.S.A. is too large and wide a country to supply the tofu product to consumers within the period. As a result, consumers are often compelled to be patient with slightly soured tofu products. Meanwhile, perfectly preservable tofu is available as sterilized packing product (U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,811), but it is too expensive to attain a large market.
In this situation, preservable granular tofu with minimal tendency of liberation of water, if it is commercially realized, will meet consumer's need and further extend the market of tofu.
The present inventors have conducted extensive studies and experiments to develop the process for producing graular tofu which is preservable with substantially no tendency of water liberation and also suited to salad topping, spread and an alternative for scrambled egg, and the present invention has been completed on the basis of results of these studies and experiments.